Western knives

dsutton24 said:
When Camillus went out of business a lot of Western parts hit the market. I've got blades, shields, and some miscellaneous doo dads that I think came from Smoky Mountain. I can't see the tang stamps in the picture well enough to be sure, but it's possible that your parts were originally acquired the same way.
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Thanks for the additional Intel! These are mostly stamped as "Western USA" and "Coleman Western", but there are some oddballs, like "Silver Sword" with two crossed Cutlass swords underneath.
https://imgur.com/a/ZMKknUP
 
dsutton24 said:
When Camillus went out of business a lot of Western parts hit the market. I've got blades, shields, and some miscellaneous doo dads that I think came from Smoky Mountain. I can't see the tang stamps in the picture well enough to be sure, but it's possible that your parts were originally acquired the same way.
Click to expand...
That's how I got mine.
Silver Sword is an old brand of Kastor Bros and Camillus. I remember it on pocket knives with brushed stainless handles.
 
qdX8Vew.jpg

I probably posted these earlier.
The one on the left has full washers like anybody else.
 
That Western 901 Scout type knife is a nice one! I found one that was a second, with the "Western" with a line thru it. The only problem was the end of the awl looked like a corkscrew. I got it for $10 and took about 2 minutes to fix the awl. The rest of the knife is a solid, well made knife. John
 
The first knife I ever bought with $ I had earned was a Western 854 Utility. May seem like an odd choice but dad a Walden Schrade pruner he kept in his toolbox, and that was good enough for a boy. Since I've been educated by the interweb and learned that with a blade not centered and a very proud center pin (something I've noticed on every 854 I ever saw) and a slightly proud bolster this knife is subpar. ;) Still, 50+ years later it is the knife you will find on me almost every time. I guess it is true. " You never forget your 1st."
 
afishhunter said:
Sorry. I must humbly disagree. :(

Western was located in Boulder, Colorado.

They sold on both sides of the Mississippi River from the beginnng. I'm not remembering the details, but I think I remember they had a connection to New York somehow, when they were known as Western States Cutlery.

I got my first Western knife (an L66) sometime around 1967 or 1968, in Clinton, Iowa. (I don't remember if at Sears, Grant's, Ward's, J.C. Penny, one of the gun stores, the Tractor Supply, a hardware store, or at Paul's Discount) My last, a "D" date code (1980) L66, in San Bernardino, CA. (at Kmart?)
My step pop had a Western F66 Black Beauty when I met him in 1967 or 1968. I don't know when he bought it, or if he bought it in Clinton or in Davenport, IA., or somewhere in Missouri, while visiting his folks.

I remember seeing ads for Western knives in 'FIELD & STREAM' and 'OUTDOOR LIFE' and the 'SCOUTING' BSA magazines in the 1960's. I think the F66 Black Beauty may have been an "Official" BSA knife in the mid/late 1960's?

They had at least one government/military contract to supply the Demo knife to all branches of the military.
(I was issued a Western made Demo knife by the Army Reserves in 1975. I still have it.)

While not government issue, and not available through the Quartermaster's offce (that I am aware of) the W49 was popular with the troops in WW2, Korea, and Viet Nam.
"During WW2, Western’s production, like most other U.S. industries, was devoted almost 100% to supplying knives to the troops. Western knives were never official government issue, but unit commanders had the leeway to place purchase orders directly with Western to equip their troops." (my how times have changed.) "Western knives were also widely available at the PX or BX for private purchase." (https://www.hwsportsman.net)

Western manufactured knives for other companies as well, such as Sears (Craftsman and JC Higgins brands), Montgomery Wards (Western Field brand), Coast Cutlery, Western Auto, and others. If the old stacked leather handled knife you are looking at has the metal of the tang visible on the back and at the belly of the handle, it is of split tang construction and was made by Western Cutlery.
(https://www.hwsportsman.net)

"Western pretty much owned the" (hunting knife) "market from the mid-30s to about the mid-seventies." (The F/W/L66 being the most popular) (https://www.hwsportsman.net/)

(Opinion) It would be unusual (if not unheard of) for a company like Coleman to purchase a unknown regional brand sold only in one or two states and take it national. I'm pretty sure that during the Coleman era the knives were still made in Colorado.
I'm thinking Camillus may have made them in-house after they took over.

(Question: Was it Coleman or Camillus that dropped the Western folding knives?)

Growng up in Iowa during the pre-internet days, "CASE" was farm implement company.
I'd never seen nor heard of a Case knife; W.R. or Brothers. (I'm guessing they didn't sell west of the Mississippi River?)
We had the Schrade and family, Utica/Cutmaster, Camillus, Western (mainly hunting/sheath knives), Buck, (((shudder ... gag ...))) "Frost" knife shaped objects (((shudder))), some no name "Made in USA", and a few others, but no WR Case, nor Case Brothers.
I don't remember any Case knife ads in the outdoor/hunting/fishing magaznes, either.
I'm sure they advertsed in the sportsman's magazines ... I suppose none of their offerings were all that memorable or "exciting" to a sub 20 year old ... or the ads were only for certain areas the magazines were distributed, not nation wide?
I don't recall seeing any Case knives for sale after I moved to So. Cali, in 1975, either.
However, that might be because I did 99.8% of my not work related (fabrication welder, later school bus driver, later self employed lawn care, tree trimming, fence construction, & lot cleanup) shopping there at Kmart, and at the weekly Orange Show Swap Meet?
Click to expand...

That's a great story !🫶🏾
 
mckgreg said:
Growing up in North West Colorado, Western was a knife and a Case was a tractor.
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Same in Iowa.
When I went to So. Cali (Fontana/Ontario/San Bernardino area) for a job in late '74/early '75 I didn't see Case knives at the hardware/welding supply, or Mall knife stores.
I did see a couple Case tractors (and at work a Case articulated endloader with forks and a claw they used to rip the engine & transmissions from cars/pickups just before putting the vehicle through the crusher.) during my time there.

I returned to Iowa in 1980.
No Case at the Tractor Supply, hardware, and sporting goods/gun shops.
Missourri was no "better" in '85.

I question if Case sold knives west of the Mississippi River prior to 1990 or so.
I sure didn't see them. Western, Marbles, Buck, and the various Imperial-Schrade brands, yes. "W.R." or "& Sons" Case? never saw west of the river ... or in western Illinois, for that matter.
Never even heard of them before I was transferred at my job from Iowa to TN.

Admittedly, I didn't visit many stores aside from Walmart in Kansas after we shut down the TN. operations and moved to Wichita, KS in '89/90 and then Las Vegas, NV, in '95.
The local Walmarts didn't have Case knives at any of those locations.
(Nor in Homestead, FL, or the K-Mart's and Home Depot's in Tampa/St. Pete, Marathon, or Key West, FL, in 2001 to 2007. )

I think the Big 5 Sporting Goods in Twin Falls, ID. might have a limited offering of Case knives ... but last time I looked (2018) they had at least 15 modern to 1 traditional ratio in the counter display.

I don't recall any Case ads in my dad's Outdoor Life and Field & Stream magazines, or his Gun Digest's of the 60's and 70's, or in my Boy's Life scouting magazines, of the same period.
I'm sure Case DID run ads in those three magazines - but only in those distributed east of the Mississippi River.

First time I saw a Case knife for sale was at Grandpa's Sporting Goods, in Clarksville, TN, in 1988 or 1989.
TBH I "thought" it was a small regional brand, and I wasn't much interested.
 
I think I’ve shared this in another thread a while back, but figured I’d also show it here. My only Western, but dang it makes me want more! It’s apparently celluloid, and the blades do show a minor bit of pitting, but it seems stable for the most part and worth it for that bright yellow color. Regardless it stays apart from my other knives where it gets good air circulation. Very strong pull, main blade is probably an 8 and the pen blade is as close to a 10 pull as I’ve ever owned… it’ll rip your nail if you don’t go at it with some conviction.

If dating the knife by the tang stamps is a reliable method, then this is a 1950s-ish knife. I’d say that feels about right in hand.

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